RIZAL, Kalinga – Government forces in this province are now using drones to locate and eradicate marijuana plantations in the province.
Col. Davy Vicente Limmong, Kalinga police provincial director, said they have resorted to the use of drone to capture still and video images of marijuana plantation sites.
“Gumagamit tayo ng drone para matuntun natin ang ibang location ng plantation. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit medyo tuluy-tuloy ang ating mga marijuana eradication sa lahat ng lugar (We use drone so that we can identify the location of plantation sites. This is the reason why our eradication activities in different areas are continuing),” Limmong said in an interview on Monday.
As of January 2021, there were 18 eradication operations conducted by the Kalinga police. The biggest haul was that of last week where more than P50 million worth of fully grown marijuana plants and seedlings were uprooted and burned.
“Medyo hirap tayo at kinukuha natin nang mga ilang araw two to three days to five days. Pag akyat doon, hahanapin at medyo mahirap din ang paghahanap ng mga tanim na ito (it is difficult to reach the plantation sites. We take about two to three up to five days to reach them and locate them. It is difficult to look for these plants),” he said.
Limmong said in most cases, only the cultivators know how to reach their marijuana plantation as these have gone much farther from the residential areas, making it difficult to locate them.
Aside from scouring new areas using the drone, he said they also constantly return to previously discovered plantation sites and more often find new marijuana plants.
Limmong said they have difficulty apprehending cultivators because plantation sites are usually on public land or open spaces.
The officer expressed optimism that the marijuana cultivation problem in Kalinga can be eradicated once and for all.
“We can do that, we were able to stop it in 2016 but we need help not only on the enforcement side. We need to discourage the residents and give them alternative livelihood,” Limmong said.